"End of Summer" DUI Crackdown Starts Friday

There will be more DUI checkpoints from Friday through the Labor Day weekend

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Federal official recommended that states lower their blood alcohol limit for drunken driving by nearly half, saying that a lower threshold has reduced highway deaths in other countries. Here, an officer in Fresno stops one of several drivers passing through a DUI checkpoint in 2006. (AP Photo/Gary Kazanjian)

An increased number of DUI checkpoints and law enforcement officers are coming to California streets through the Labor Day weekend as part of the End of Summer DUI Crackdown, authorities announced this week.

More than 115 law enforcement agencies across the Golden State will be participating in the initiative being held from Aug. 16 to Sept. 2.

That includes DUI checkpoints in undisclosed locations in Malibu on Friday from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m., as well as on Aug. 30, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said.

Santa Monica police will also hold a DUI and driver's license checkpoint Friday somewhere "within the city limits," they said.

In Long Beach, police plan on holding their own DUI and driver's license checkpoint Saturday and then again on Aug. 31.

Authorities said 774 California drivers died in crashes involving drunken drivers in 2011. Of those fatalities, 138 were killed in Los Angeles County during the Labor Day weekend.

Drivers caught under the influence can expect jail time, license suspension and insurance increases, authorities said, as well as fines, DUI classes, probation and other expenses that can amount to more than $10,000.

Authorities urge motorists to call 911 if they spot a suspected intoxicated driver.